“You got a degree, Miss Deputy Mayor?” Fauna asks me as she reaches up to play with a gold cross around her neck.
“I do.”
“In what?” Janae, this time.
“I have a law degree,” I tell them and they exchange glances.
“You do understand what that 1% means, don't you?” Janae starts pushing the cart again.
“I do.” We pause again next to the cocoa powder. A canister of free-trade organic cocoa flies into the basket. “Look,” I say, getting in front of the cart and curling my fingers around the metal bars. “I'm not here to pull a William Queen on you,” I say and Fauna blanches.
“What?” Glinda asks as I wonder if I've just said the wrong thing.
“That guy that infiltrated the Mongols MC—William Queen. He spent years befriending them, patched-in, got elevated to treasurer …”
“We know who William Queen is,” Janae snaps, trying to push the cart forward. I stand my ground.
“I'm not here to twist up the natural order of things. I don't need to be queen of the compound or anything, don't need to change the rules. I just want to love Royal and live my life.”
“Honey, that's a pipe dream. You do understand that Royal's the president of the mother chapter of the Alpha Wolves? They have other chapters across the country. This is a big fucking deal.” Fauna leans over the cart toward me, her lined face crinkling with emotion. She looks suddenly ten years older. “These boys love each other with a fierceness I will never understand, but you know what? They also won't hesitate to kill each other if one of them steps out of line. Some old lady lawyer? Sweetheart, get out while you still can and go be mayor, be an attorney, whatever. This isn't the place for you. I know you think we're picking on you, but that's just not it at all. You can't walk into this life all willy-nilly, walk away when you decide it doesn't work. You have to be all in or nothing. Do you understand?”
I take a deep breath and close my eyes.
“I know I love Royal, and I know I'm willing to compromise to make things work.”
“There's a hell of a lot more than compromise to this, Lyric Rentz. If you decide you want in, we'll welcome you with open arms, but understand that this other life of yours, it is over.”
I open my eyes back up and move out of the way of the cart as my mind spins and twists and my tummy flickers with butterflies. Jesus. I thought after the barbecue things would get better, but I have no idea what I'm doing here. I swipe my hands down the thighs of my jeans and watch as the girls pick out milk, butter, eggs. I don't join in their chatter.
When we get to the checkout, I offer to pay and nobody turns me down.
“Are we heading to Janae's?” I ask as the automatic doors slide open and we start walking the groceries under the awning towards the rain. It's coming down hard, in thick, glossy sheets. We pause at the edge of the dry pavement while Glinda pushes a button on a key fob and a blue minivan winks back at her.
“Well, we figured your place might be better,” she says, pausing for dramatic effect. “I mean Royal's. He's got a beautiful kitchen, doesn't he?”
“Sure. Sounds good,” I say, feeling weird about inviting three people I don't know over to the house of the acquaintance-turned-lover-turned-fiancé I also don't really know that well. “You guys know the address?”
“We've had get-togethers there before,” Janae says as we all face the heavy downpour. Fauna unwraps the sweater she had tied around her waist and slips it on, throwing up the hood against the harsh, salty bite of the wind while I slide my phone surreptitiously from my purse. There's nothing from Sully or my parents—thank God. I shoot off a quick text to Royal.
On our way to your place to bake organic cookies.
I smile and tuck the phone away. Royal's probably still at the clubhouse, but at least we'll have Sketch and some dude named Jump-Start outside to keep watch. Oh, and Royal's unregistered SR40c with the serial number scratched off. I bet Agent Shelley would love to find out about that.
“Ready?” Glinda asks, taking over and pushing the cart ahead of herself, straight into the icy downpour. From what I can gather, the three of them took one vehicle here. Means they'll have plenty of time to gossip about me on their way to Royal's place. At least I have the wolves in my car for company.
We're sprinting across the pavement together towards Glinda's minivan. I figure I'll help them load the groceries before getting into my own car.
The cart comes to a stop in a deep puddle as Fauna reaches for the handle of the sliding door, pausing when she notices Glinda staring at something over her shoulder.
I turn to follow her gaze and feel the blood drain out of my face.